Sparrow's Birthday Dolly: Part 2

So, the night before the party, while I was up making Sparrow's dolly some green boots, (to see Part 1 post click HERE) I noticed some pretty tule fabric in my bag from Sam's grandma.  I knew that Sparrow would be wearing a pink, girly tu-tu dress with pink, sparkly, Tiny Toms at her birthday bash.  That's when a thought was dropped into my mind by the sewing fairies! ;) She needs a ballerina outfit! YES! My girly colors where flying, as I sat there on the couch, making the cutest little vintage tu-tu with a pale blue ribbon to tie it off at the back of the waist. Then came the slippers. Sigh. After I was finished, I decided to dress her in this dancer outfit  and wrap her coat and boots separately. 

Jessie, Sparrow's mommy, is one of my dearest friends and one of the most creative people that I know. She uses pages of old story books for cards and sweet notes. I've been adopting this practice  ever since she gave me one, after Káel was born last year.  I found this connect the dot page from a children's activity book, from 1954 and thought it would be perfect! I wrote our message along the lines... *squeal* :) Next time you are at the thrift store and you see a 40 cent old children's book...grab it and try this sweet little idea out on a friend. :) 

Btw, I almost NEVER use wrapping paper to wrap a gift. I always figure using some pretty fabric is more fun and quaint. Then, whoever is receiving the gift can reuse it for a project or another gift! :) Old sheets are a great, cheap idea. That's what I used for this. 

Reading her card. Um...excuse me, but do you see what she is wearing!? Look at that little princess headdress? Paaaaaalease!!! When I walked into their house, I squealed so loud! She was her mommy's daughter. Feather funk and all! 

They meet for the first time. It was precious.

Seeing her open up her present and smile, with that sweet little miss smirk, made my heart soar to heaven. I have tears in my eyes right now, just thinking about last year and all the prayers and tears we all shared with Jessie and her family as Sparrow, the miracle baby, came out of her first surgery, strong and brave. Sparrow had another open heart surgery 3 months later and will have one more when she is around 3. She is a total kiss from Jesus and I adore her with all my heart! Many of you may remember reading my post, where I talked about her story. If you haven't read it and would like to you can click here to read the beginning of her story and HERE! This little darlin' is the toughest, sweetest sugar ever!

Happy birthday little bird. I love you so much!
xo auntie jess

Thank you for voting for us lovelies! 

Bungalow Dreams

I love our new little house so much, I can't even tell you! There are several things I really want to do to it to make more homey, tweaks, touch-ups and re-dos... I'm trying to organize my creativity and plan for one project at a time. But, sometimes my brain runs crazy and before you know it, I've knocked down a wall and added a second story in my head. hehe. I can't help it. Here are a few of the realistic desires of my heart for our bungalow home. You can find a ton of my ideas on my Pintrest boards HERE if you want to explore my brain a little more and find the sources to these amazing images. :) 

I'm up to my eyeballs in lists (yes, plural) today. First, I'm going to try and knock out the little Forest's bedroom today. Next, I need to do some party shopping. Once I get that done, I have many more things that are promising to be time consuming. Despite the craziness of this past month, I have to say I have had more fun than ever with my little boy. He is my happy treasure that makes me smile and laugh countless times a day. I can't imagine my life without him and the sweetness he brings to my heart. 

Have a glorious day! Oh, I wanted to share one more thing that blessed my heart SO much this morning. My friend Mandy wrote an AMAZING blog post last night on being real, and the expectations we put on ourselves as women, moms and wives. It struck such a true cord in my own heart and I wanted to share it. Click HERE to read her post on her blog She Breathes Deeply. 

The walls of our little 50's house were originally a color similar to this, thinking about taking it back instead of the now scruffed up white.  Or, perhaps I'll pick a weathered musty color instead, we'll see. 

Future project. 

I really want to find a ladder for my living room to place beside our piano. 

I'm going to make a door headboard for our bed! Who wants to go to the antique junk yard with me!? 

Probable future color of our kitchen plus I want to paint the cabinets an eggshell white color.

I found these on etsy one day and haven't been able to stop wanting them. I really would love these.

I want to do this in my back yard/deck. EEEeeeee! Mums, one of my favorite things about the up and coming fall season. 

Packing, Packing, Packing...Oh, and A Date!

Although it looks all clean and calm in the background, let me assure you, it is NOT! Káel has a new forest of cardboard boxes to explore and crawl over while we pack up our yellow cottage dream land. There is stuff everywhere!  It has been interestingly easy for me to work around little boy's naps though. ;) The stress level is a little high at times. Our tv's are officially off the walls which means Baby Einstein is available only on our computers and the entire upstairs is ready to be loaded in a moving truck. My brain feels so scattered at times. Oh, and our fridge is on day 6 of being totally dead. Our landlord gave us a mini freezer that we have been using. It kinda feels like we are camping.

I feel like my brain is running a million miles an hour! I'm planning an amazing baby shower for a dear friend that will take place the weekend after we move into our new casa.  Then, Forest boy has his first b.day and I haven't even gotten a chance to do any real organizing of my thoughts for that. It will all come together. I have a tendency to put more on my plate than I can eat. I want to do SO many things and a lot of times it ends up biting me in the booty. We are SO excited to be moving into our new little bungalow though! Oh.my.goodness! I keep telling myself, one more week Jess, then you can nest and decorate and go on walks in the pretty neighborhood. My heart gets so excited just thinking about it! Eeeee!

Today I'm babysitting little miss Anthem again which I enjoy so much. While the kids play, I'm going to try and squeeze in a few boxes here and there. Then, tonight my handsome man and I have a long overdue date night. Even though logically it doesn't make sense to let up in our moving venture less than a week before we move, or spend the extra money...it does make sense in the heart department. It's so important for Sam and I to have grown-up time with each other, away from the diapers and bottles,  without thinking about Forest boy's next meal or all the other wonderful details of being a parent. Being our little boy's mom and dad is the best thing ever, but to keep that the best thing ever, we need to keep our hearts full of each other.  Date night is like a treat to that part of us. We even went to Buffalo Exchange yesterday and swapped some of our threads for a new dress for me and some new duds for Sam, to make it extra fun and special.  Well, little missy and my little adventurer are getting into something "amazing," I better go check on them. :)

I took a 5 min break yesterday and spray painted these once brown wooden  frames that go to the cross-stich pictures my great-great grandma made. :) They have always gone in the hallways of my families homes and now, they will go in our new little hallway! Who says you can't whip out the spray paint can in the middle of moving chaos? It gave me a creative boost I greatly needed. ;)

Sam and I knocked Káel's room out yesterday.

Have a fabulous Thursday! I hope you find a heart full of things to love and enjoy today.

Jess

Packing for Our Bungalow

Yesterday was a day full of packing, yummy leftovers and some hopefully exciting news about our potentially new little 1950's bungalow! Ah, I really hope this house works out. It's in a neighborhood we fell in love with and it's just perfect. I'll give you guys more details as soon as it's officially sealed and done. Which...should be today!? Ah!  Here are a couple pics from our day yesterday. I've almost finished boxing up little Forest boy's room and he is always eager to "help" me as you can see below. ;) Our home is slowly turning into a village of brown boxes. 

It's been a real stretching time with us having to move in the middle of Sam still looking for work and so many changes all around us. But, like one of my dear friends told me, lean into this stretching time like you lean into a yoga position. :) The Lord is faithful to us and little windows are starting to open up, letting more and more sunshine of promise in. As Sam and I were getting ready for bed last night, he smiled the biggest smile, sighed and burst out "I love my little family." It was a perfect, simple moment full of sweetness. No matter what is going on, simple, crazy, real love drenches my life. 

a yummy lunch of avocado, tomato and lentils

sam and i heated up some amazing leftovers of his famous quesadillas from last night's dinner with our friend jordan. (who was also one of the midwives who helped deliver káel.) 

Frozen Broccoli Boy

I recently discovered one of Káel's favorite snacks...raw broccoli! He loves it, especially when I freeze it. He will chew and gnaw on it for the longest time, making it a yummy, teething, snack full of vitamins! Frozen broccoli was my favorite snack (and as weird as it sounds, still is) as a little girl. 

I can't believe he's 10 months old! It's freaking me out how fast time is flying. I'll post more on the wonders of the 9 and 10 month landmark later. :) 

I've missed blogging the last couple of weeks and I know my posts have been scarce. Sorry about that. We have 3 weeks to find a house, pack and move. My brain space is filled up with house hunting and my creative juices have been going into building up stock for my new etsy store (that will hopefully open later this month or early August). Today, Sam and I are going to look at a house in one of my favorite neighborhoods. We'll see how that goes...I'm so hoping that this is the one. If it is, I'll be posting and sharing the excitement with you. 

Have a wonderful Monday! 

Tunes & Such: The Honey Trees

I hope all you beauties had a fabulous 4th of July! We celebrated with a ton of our friends with bbq, treats and fireworks. It was a blast. I have been wanting to do another installment for my "Tunes and Such" feature for a while and I'm glad I'm finally getting around to it! Here is another amazing group, one of my favorite music groups. 

The Honey Trees take you to dreamy, far away places with their lyrics and their melodies have a haunting goodness about them. Becky Lou Filip and Jacob Wick are an amazing duo that will inspire your heart. They released their first EP "Wake the Earth" in February 2009 and are working on a new recording project. I would totally recommend them for your summer playlist. You can download their music on itunes HERE. Watch, listen and enjoy! 

photography: simon filip